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Vandals target Ramsey golf course
Ramsey golf course greenkeepers have been left with hundreds of pounds worth of repair bills after yobs went on a vandalism spree.
Ramsey golf course greenkeepers have been left with hundreds of pounds worth of repair bills after yobs went on a vandalism spree.Over the past few weeks, Ramsey Golf and Bowls Club, in Abbey Terrace, Ramsey has been plagued by thieves breaking in to steal flag sticks and tee markers and cause minor damage.
But when the greenkeepers arrived at the club early on Sunday morning, they found that the trouble had escalated with vandals wreaking over 100 worth of damage by ripping down fencing, kicking over a mobile toilet near to the eighth hole and damaging the camouflage bamboo screen that surrounds the toilet.
Head greenkeeper, Neil Barber said: "It seems that each evening some kids have been coming over to the club and causing petty damage to our property.
"They've been pinching the flag poles and the tee markers, which we have been reluctant to tell the police about because it's petty, but it's become so persistent.
"It escalated at the weekend when my lads came in on Sunday morning at around 6am to find the toilet on its side.
"The fence had been torn apart and there were beer bottles scattered around.
"Individually, the tee markers and flag poles are not expensive and often these things turn up in the stream, but the cost of repairing the toilet and the fence will be more than 100.
"And this adds to the hundreds of pounds we have spent replacing the other items during the course of the year."
The golf course, which opened in 1922 and is used by 700 members, covers around 150 acres of land and includes a number of public paths which poses a problem for tightening security.
Mr Barber added that the club had been left stumped about how to protect the area from further incidents because of the size of the grounds that they have to secure.
He added: "We've got CCTV around the clubhouse and also in the car park, but the course is so big it would be impossible to have CCTV to cover all of it.
"There are also public footpaths that go through the course, so we can't fence areas off.
"So we'll be working with the local community police officers to ask them to keep an eye on people who appear to be heading this way in the evenings."
Police have today confirmed that they have launched an investigation into the incidents.
Anyone with any information should call the Crime Incident Management Unit at March Police Station on 0345 456 4564 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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